As the daughter of a nurse, I understood from a young age that twice a month my Mama stayed at the hospital all night taking care of sick patients. One Saturday afternoon, a friend came over for a playdate and my dad reminded us to, “Play quietly, Mama’s sleeping.” I clearly remember attempting to explain why my mom was sleeping during the day. Unless a child has a parent who works the night shift, working all night is often a foreign concept for them. Using gentle nighttime narratives, the following three picture books illustrate the various aspects of working the night shift and help children understand the necessity and role of night-shift workers in the workforce and community.

Night Job by Karen Hesse and G. Brian Karas

“On Friday nights, when the sun goes down, I snap the clips shut on Dad’s lunch box and climb onto the back of his bike.” Lyrical prose and muted evocative illustrations tell the story of a young boy helping his dad during his job as a school’s night custodian in Karen Hesse’s Night Job. Though the work is hard (“We scrub the cafeteria, then sweep the stage”), it’s clear the boy cherishes this special time with his father. They shoot hoops in the gym, listen to baseball games on the portable radio and eat egg salad sandwiches in the courtyard. Eventually, the boy falls asleep on the library couch until 4 in the morning when his dad wakes him up. They ride home, and as the sky lightens, they fall asleep together in the big recliner. In addition to offering insight into a night-shift routine, Night Job reminds students of the dedication and daily duties of those who work to keep their schools clean.

• City Daily Photo—Hesse was inspired to write Night Job after seeing a photograph on City Daily Photo. Each day, photographers from around the world post photographs of the city in which they live. As a class, look at some of the daily photographs and choose one to discuss. Using that photograph, model a creative writing task with prompts about the scene it depicts.

• Figurative Language—Alliteration, similes, metaphors, personification, onomatopoeia and imagery: Though not long in length, Night Job is filled with figurative language. If students are familiar with figurative language, reread the book and take time to identify and name the figurative language devices that are used and discuss how they enhance the story. Type out basic sentences on strips of paper. Invite students to take one of the sentences and make it richer through the use of figurative language. Afterward, students can copy their new “rich” sentences to cardstock and choose a way to illustrate it (collage, watercolor, colored pencils, digital illustration, etc).

• Inferencing—Inferencing is an essential skill and one that students will use throughout their entire lives. Before even mentioning the word, ask students the following questions: Do you think the dad and boy in this story are wealthy? What makes you say that? How does the boy feel about his dad? How do you know this? Tell me about the last sentence of the book. Be sure to remind students to refer to the text and illustrations to support and further explain their answers. After the discussion, introduce the word inference. During the next few days, read aloud other books that require inferencing. Boats For Papa (Jessixa Bagley) and Little Fox in the Forest (Stephanie Graegin) are my favorite books to use when teaching inferencing skills.

Kitten and the Night Watchman by John Sullivan and Taeeun Yoo

As the sun is setting, a man hugs his family and heads a construction site where he works as the night watchman. Under the light of a full moon, he checks the doors and workshops and walks past the abandoned vehicles. Then out from under a garbage truck wanders a small gray kitten. The night watchman shares his sandwich with the kitten and a friendship is formed. But after another inspection around the site, the kitten “is nowhere to be seen,” and the man “is too worried to read.” A tender reunion occurs on the following spread, and when his shift is over, the night watchman takes the kitten home to his family. Author John Sullivan’s spare text and illustrator Taeeun Yoo’s rich and textured artwork keep the story from being saccharine. As a class read-aloud, Kitten and the Night Watchman is a pure delight.

• Nonfiction Research—The first time I read this book aloud to students it became clear that my knowledge of construction sites was about at my students’ level. My first-graders had a myriad of questions about the different machines, vehicles and the construction site itself, and I could not answer any of them with confidence. After we finished the story, I jotted down the questions. The next day, the same group of students and I read some nonfiction books about construction vehicles and sites and found answers to most of our questions. This was the perfect opportunity to show students the need and purpose for both fiction and nonfiction books.

• Shadows—The text and illustrations explain that, “An excavator bows like a strange giraffe,” and “A backhoe rises like a giant insect.” It’s the shadows cast by the vehicles that make these similes ring true. Read a nonfiction book about shadows. (I used What Makes a Shadow? by Clyde Robert Bulla.) Provide a variety of oddly shaped objects. In pairs, students will use these objects to make piles. Then, using flashlights, students will look at the shadow cast by their combination of objects. After experimenting with different object combination and placement, students will trace one of them onto oversize white paper and decide what their shadow drawing looks like. Encourage them to write similes for their art similar to the ones found in Kitten and the Night Watchman.

• Onomatopoeia—The “ki-DEE, ki-DEE, ki-DEE” of a killdeer, the “Shhhheeeeerrrrroooooommmm,” of an overhead jet, the “peent, peent, peent” of a nighthawk, the “rumble-clack-clack, rumble-clack-clack” of a freight train—onomatopoeia is used to help readers understand the different night sounds at a construction site. Write down all of the examples used in the book (there are six) and then create some onomatopoeias that can be heard at a neighborhood park. Afterward, let students choose a setting (beach, ice cream parlor, amusement park, etc.) and write their own onomatopoeias. Encourage them to read them aloud to the class so that everyone can hear how words reflect sound.

• Night Workers—As a class, discuss why we need night workers. Give students time to brainstorm other jobs that require a night shift. Encourage critical thinking by asking students to explain why these jobs require a night shift. Write down the children’s thoughts on chart paper. If one of their parents works a night shift, invite them into the classroom as a guest speaker.

Good Morning, Harry—Good Night, Daddy by Katy Beebe and Valeri Gorbachev

I absolutely love this understated read-aloud gem. The front endpapers show Harry and Gran headed toward their seaside cottage as a big red sun sets over the ocean. While Gran and Harry’s mother help their sons begin their nighttime routines, Daddy is just beginning his workday. He is a conductor on the London-Penzance sleeper train. With simple rhythmic prose and warm watercolor illustrations, this story goes back and forth between Daddy’s duties on the train and the cozy nighttime activities of Harry and his family. When morning arrives, “Harry hears the front door open . . .” and Daddy is home! Together they enjoy their breakfast/supper of porridge, and as Daddy heads to bed, Gran and Harry begin their day with a walk along the sunny seashore.

• City Comparison—Show students a map of England and locate both London and Penzance. Ask students to share where they think Harry’s family lives (hopefully, they use illustration clues and know that it’s along the coast). Explore the cities of London and Penzance on Google Earth or watch short videos about the cities. Make a chart with descriptive details about each city. (London is a bustling big city and Penzance is a quiet seaside town.) Harry’s family lives in the small coastal town of Sennen Cove. Look up the area on Google Earth. My students loved “walking” along the beach just like Harry and Gran.

• Train Math—My students were unfamiliar with trains and the concept of sleeper trains. Use the U.K.’s Trainline website to look up the timetable of the London to Penzance train. Ask them if they notice anything different about the times (24-hour time instead of 12-hour time) and then convert standard to 24-hour time. For example, 6:00 pm is 18:00. Encourage critical thinking by inquiring, “Why are some of the trips are eight hours while others are only five hours?” Trainline’s Journey Information from London to Penzance has detailed information that lends itself to mathematical word problems. Convert times and mileage to figure out how fast trains travel or discuss why the journey takes longer on weekends and holidays.

• Train Travel—Watch a short video showing the inside of the London to Penzance sleeper train. Many of my students were very unfamiliar with trains and train travel. Make a list of the jobs that Harry’s dad does during his shift as night conductor. (He yells, “All Aboard,” helps passengers find their cabins, collects tickets, serves meals, welcomes them to Cornwall and reminds them to “Mind the gap.”) Pose the question, “Why are there sleeper trains?”

The recent documentary Won’t You Be My Neighbor moved me to tears as I learned more about the life and widespread influence of Fred Rogers and his TV series “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.” In each episode, looking directly at the camera, he asked his television viewers, “Won’t you be my neighbor?” Alternating between his living room and the whimsical puppet community, Mr. Rogers reminded children that loving those around them—their neighbors—was of utmost importance. The characters in the following three picture books show genuine love for their neighbors through their small yet important acts of kindness. With gentleness and sincerity, they invite children to (in the words of Mr. Rogers) “imagine what our real neighborhoods would be like if each of us offered, as a matter of course, just one kind act to another person.”

Found by Jeff Newman and Larry Day

This wordless story of love found, lost and then found again will resonate with every child who has ever loved a pet. In the opening pages, a little girl looks out of her apartment window and spies a pup wandering through puddles. She brings it inside and provides food and a dry bed. A poster and framed bedside photograph reveal that in the past, the girl has lost a dog dear to her. After a tentative first night, the pair begins to bond and soon there is no doubt that the girl has come to love the new puppy. Not long afterward as they are walking home from the pet store, the girl spies a “Lost Roscoe” flier with her puppy’s picture. Despite her obvious sadness, the girl returns Roscoe to the owner. The story ends on a hopeful note when the girl passes the Human Society on her way home and spies a forlorn boxer sitting in the window. Considering our neighbor’s feelings and putting their needs above our own are hard concepts to grasp, but in this story, these big ideas are conveyed in a sensibility that is developmentally perfect for children.

• Inference—Wordless books require children to study the illustrations as the way of deciphering characters’ feelings. In Found, the main character goes through a range of complex emotions. Reread the book through with students and write down (on the board or chart paper) the adjectives they use to describe how the girl is feeling. Read the book for a third time. This round, invite children to tell you why they chose these particular adjectives . . . what concrete illustration details did they use to infer the girl’s feelings? Make a concept map by connecting each illustration clue with the appropriate adjective.

• Compare and contrast—Share Stephanie Graegin’s wordless picture book Little Fox in the Forest with students. Like Found, this story shares similar themes and colorwork, but they are vastly different in their settings, characters and plot execution. Guide students in creating a two circle Venn diagram. As a class, identify one similarity and one difference between Found and Little Fox in the Forest. Allow time for students to individually fill out their diagrams.

• Parts of a book—This story begins on the front endpapers. Readers who skip to the official first page will miss two key plot points. Use this as an opportunity to introduce students to the concept of reading every part of a book. Discuss front and back endpapers and the title page. Pose the question, “What would happen if I skipped over the endpapers, opening pages and title page?”

Zola’s Elephant by Randall de Séve and Pamela Zagarenski

A new girl named Zola has moved in next door to de Séve’s unnamed protagonist, and despite her mothers’ wishes, she is convinced they won’t be friends because “Zola already has a friend. I know because I saw the big box.” The girl is convinced there is an elephant inside the box. Richly colored mixed-media illustrations show the fun adventures (eating toast, taking bubble baths, playing hide-and-seek and building a clubhouse) that the girl imagines Zola is having with her elephant best friend. Muted illustrations on the intervening pages show readers that Zola is actually bored and lonely. Finally, with her own stuffed elephant tucked under one arm, the narrator rings Zola’s doorbell, and the final illustrations show the new friends’ magical adventures filled with whales, hot air balloons and (of course) an elephant. Equal parts practical and fantastical, Zola’s Elephant shows children that reaching out to others isn’t always easy, but it often reaps big rewards.

• Creativity—It nearly killed me, but I read aloud the first page to my students and then stopped. Ignoring their protests, I sent them back to their seats with the writing prompt, “Tell me what you think is in Zola’s big box.” After they had written a sentence or two, I provided oversized paper, pastels, patterned paper, colored pencils and other art supplies. They spent the next 30 minutes making their ideas into a visual picture. The creations turned out to be more original and personality-revealing than I had anticipated, and the children loved engaging in the open-ended art project.

• Imagination vs. Reality—Make a T-Chart with the words “imagination” and “reality.” Fill out the chart with your students and compare the narrator’s imaginings with Zola’s reality. For example, the narrator smells toast and imagines Zola sharing a fanciful tea party with her elephant. In reality, using a box as a table, Zola is forlornly staring at a solitary piece of toast.

• How DO you transport an elephant?—At the end of the book, one of my nonfiction-loving students inquired, “How big of a box do you need to move a real elephant?” I didn’t have an immediate answer, but I was delighted to discover this article by the Smithsonian’s National Zoo & Conservation Biology Institute. It covers all the fascinating transportation details that were required to move an elephant from the Smithsonian Zoo in Washington, D.C., to the Calgary Zoo in Calgary, Alberta. We looked at photographs of the journey and even did a few math equations with the details provided. Afterward, we watched a video of an elephant being transported from a conservatory to a wildlife compound.

Thank You, Omu! by Oge Mora

On the very top floor of her apartment building, Omu (the Igbo term for “queen”) is making a thick red stew in her big fat pot. A little boy comes to her door to inquire about the most delicious smell. Omu gives him a bowl of stew and sends him on his way, but the smell has the attention of the entire neighborhood. Ms. Police Officer, Mr. Hot Dog Vendor, a construction worker and the mayor are just a few of the many neighbors who stop by for a bowl of the scrumptious stew. When Omu opens the pot for her nice evening meal, she finds it empty. But then she hears a knock and opens the door to find her neighbors are back! Only this time, they shower her with food and cards. Squeezing into Omu’s small apartment they eat, dance and celebrate. With its bold mixed-media illustrations and rhythmic prose, Thank You, Omu! captured the attention of my students and provided a natural segue for a discussion about hospitality and community kindness.

• Notes of gratitude—In the author’s note at the end of the book, Mora explains how Thank You, Omu! is a celebration of her late grandmother’s life: “Everyone in the community had a seat at my grandmother’s table.” Her grandmother’s selfless gift of hospitality as well her delicious stew made an impression on Mora. Discuss hospitality with your students. Ask them to think of a person in their lives who has demonstrated hospitality and kindness toward them or the community. And then, following the example of the little boy in the book, guide them in writing personal thank-you notes. This is an ideal opportunity to teach the fundamentals of writing notes of gratitude, a skill that will serve students for the rest of their lives.

• Shades of meaning game—When Omu tells them about her stew, the little boy says, “That sure sounds yummy.” Ms. Police Officer says, “That sounds mighty tasty.” Mr. Hot Dog Vendor says, “That sound quite delectable.” Discuss how yummy, tasty and delectable are words that share a similar meaning. Let students work in pairs for a game of synonyms. Give each pair a thesaurus (or let them use an online thesaurus) and explain how a thesaurus helps writers with word choice. After a few practice words, write a sentence with a strong verb or adjective on the board and underline the word you want them to replace. Give students time to use find and choose a new word. Let each group share their new sentence with the class. After a word is used, it can’t be used by another pair. At the end of each round, give a point to the pair who chose the most effective or creative synonym.

• Importance of Setting—Ask students, “Could this story have happened in a rural or suburban neighborhood?” Discuss how the compactness of a city block as well as the community members who work and live in close proximity are crucial to this story. Read other books in which the setting is an integral part of the story. Read aloud a few more books that have settings that influence the story and then let students look through more examples on their own. Let students apply their new understandings by drawing their own strong setting. Extend the activity with older students by inviting them to add characters and stories to accompany their imagined setting. Some of my favorite recent strong setting books include A House That Once Was, Imagine! and Hello Lighthouse. ​​​

Two of this year’s most emotionally compelling picture books tell the story of immigrants. 

Caldecott Honor-winning author and illustrator Yuyi Morales tells her own personal immigration story in Dreamers, a picture book that pays tribute to picture books themselves, as well as the libraries where they live. In Morales’ intimate, first-person narration—which unfolds from her perspective as a mother who is new to the U.S.—she addresses a baby and details in concise, eloquent language the confusion she felt in a new country and the ways in which the library opened her world. Her first library visit is described with wonder and incredulity: “Suspicious. Improbable. Unbelievable. Surprising.” She could retrieve books from a place where she didn’t need to speak—books (and here she illustrates the covers of many beloved picture books) from which she learned to read and speak English. The experience utterly changed her life forever. This place, previously “unimaginable” to her, helped her find nothing less than her own voice.

Illustrated in vivid colors, with dreamlike vistas and detailed compositions, Dreamers is a powerful, truly inspiring tale. Morales uses pen and ink, acrylics, photography from her personal collection, pages from her first handmade book and embroidery to illustrate her story, and the pictures are filled with objects in flight—bats, birds, butterflies, even a shooting star—that serve as symbols of her journey to the U.S. She paints herself wearing a backpack and in a dress of what could be flower petals or multi-colored flames with her young son in her arms or in his stroller; the two are an indelible image. A closing author’s note brings readers more details, and Morales further sings the praises of picture books and the librarians in California where she had, once upon a time, made her new home.

Former U.S. Poet Laureate Juan Felipe Herrera’s Imagine opens memorably: We see a boy picking chamomile flowers and whispering to “their fuzzy faces.” We watch him grow, and we discover that the boy is Herrera as a child as he recounts specific, detailed childhood memories of playing in nature, leaving his home and eventually moving to a country where his native language is not spoken. The entire text is a series of conditional sentences ending with “imagine,” the word in a larger, bolder font on each spread: “If I moved to the winding city of tall, bending buildings and skipped to a new concrete school I had never seen, imagine . . . ” A young Herrera learns English in his new school and falls in love with writing, collecting “gooey and sticky ink pens” because of the way the ink flows across the page. He writes his first poem and crafts his first song on the guitar. And then, we see Herrera as U.S. Poet Laureate, speaking at the Library of Congress in front of a large crowd. If he can start as a small, unassuming boy smelling flowers in his homeland and grow into a famous poet, he asks readers on the final spread to “imagine what you could do.”

Filled with vivid imagery (the “milky light” from the moon that shines on the boy’s blanket as he sleeps outside, the “silvery bucket” he carries for fetching water) and Lauren Castillo’s highly textured, earth-toned illustrations rendered via foam monoprint, Imagine is a tender story that is brimming with hope. 

Children are natural explorers, traversing their world with wide eyes and delving into their own imaginations with curiosity and gusto. Two new picture books put adventures on the map for eager preschool and elementary-age readers.

Before we even get to the title page of author and illustrator Deborah Marcero’s My Heart Is a Compass, readers are treated to a spread showing a group of children in an elementary school classroom, reading silently on their own. And we see that our blue-haired, brown-skinned protagonist has chosen to read an atlas with a map at the ready. Her name is Rose, and she longs to be “an explorer, a pioneer, a trailblazer.” Show-and-tell is tomorrow, and Rose is determined to discover something new to share with her class. Since she doesn’t know precisely where that thing might be, she draws her own maps before setting out: “Her imagination became a blueprint, with her heart a compass.”

Rose’s journey includes the intricate, imaginative maps she so carefully draws—a road map, a sky map, an ocean map and a map of the mountains—but she returns home with no exciting or unusual discovery. However, she realizes that the four lovingly rendered and hand-drawn maps clutched to her chest are treasures themselves, and she shares them with her inquisitive classmates.

Rose’s maps are visual delights, filled with both geographical information (the sky map includes “thermosphere,” “exosphere,” etc.),  map vocabulary and plenty of her imaginative musings. (The mountain map includes a secret lair and “Blue Dragon Smoky Mountains.”) Marcero’s textured mixed-media illustrations are filled with inviting patterns that make up features like sandy beaches, bumpy mountains and waves in the water. My Heart Is a Compass is a tribute to the exciting adventures a child’s imagination can launch.

Joyce Hesselberth’s Mapping Sam shares Marcero’s sense of adventure, but it features a furry, four-legged and whiskered protagonist. Sam is a cat, and once she puts her family to bed, she slips out of the house to explore at night, and readers are privy to the adventures that unfold in Hesselberth’s sleek illustrations with rich, nighttime colors and crisp, clean lines.

Hesselberth illustrates Sam’s journey for readers with a simple map of the cat’s neighborhood that includes a compass and scale. But things take a surprising turn when Hesselberth lays out an altogether different type of map—a diagram of Sam’s inner workings as she strolls through the grass. This is followed by a transportation map; the diagram of a flower and its parts; a cutaway map showing the depth of a pond; a diagram of a water molecule; a world map; a diagram of our solar system; a constellation chart and a blueprint. All of these different maps and diagrams are seamlessly woven into Sam’s journey as she explores nature and ponders the starlit sky. Information about each type of map is appended. “Can you map a dream?” the author asks, as Sam arrives home to see one of her humans snuggled comfortably in bed. “You might try.” Readers may be eager to do so, as well as explore a variety of other types of maps, after reading both of these informative stories. Bon voyage!

Lapland, crackers, Christmas pudding, Crimble, mince pies, Father Christmas—if these words and expressions are familiar to you, then you’re likely from England, or you’ve celebrated Christmas across the pond. British holiday traditions look similar to those found in the United States, but there are some key differences: Presents are delivered by Father Christmas (who hails from Lapland), pantomimes pop up on every street corner, and a Christmas dinner is not complete without Christmas pudding and the pulling of Christmas crackers. The following three festive picture books are brimming with British traditions, magic and cheer.

The Queen and the First Christmas Tree by Nancy Churnin and Luisa Uribe

When she is 17 years old, Princess Charlotte leaves her home in Germany and moves to England so she can marry King George III. She brings a yew branch with her and it brings her immense comfort during her first Christmas away from home. Forty years later, Charlotte throws a Christmas party in Windsor Castle and invites 100 local children. At the party, she delights the children by decorating a giant fir with nuts, fruits, string, toys and candles. The tradition soon spreads beyond the walls of the castle to the people of England. Appealing to history- and princess-lovers alike, this nonfiction narrative tells the interesting and little-known backstory behind a familiar holiday tradition.

• History of the Christmas tree—After reading The Queen and the First Christmas Tree, ask students what questions they still have about Charlotte or the Christmas tree tradition. Write the questions on the board or a piece of chart paper. Read aloud the History Today article, “The First Christmas Tree,” by Allison Barnes. For younger children, discuss the article and if it answers any of their questions. Write the answers under the questions. For older children, provide each child with a copy of the article and a highlighter. Give them time to read the article, highlighting the parts which provide answers to the class questions. This activity gives children the opportunity to read for knowledge and helps equip them with research and information-gathering skills. For a short video on the topic, watch the History Channel’s History of Christmas Trees. Be sure to watch a time lapse of this year’s Windsor Castle’s Christmas Tree.

• Diary entry—Queen Charlotte invited 100 children to her first Christmas party. Read the pages that discuss the party aloud as well as the back matter. Discuss how these children (who had never seen a Christmas tree) might have felt at the party. As a class, brainstorm and list some adjectives and phrases that might describe the feelings of the children at Charlotte’s party. Give students time to write a first-person diary entry from the perspective of one of the children. Afterward, let the children copy their entries onto old-fashioned looking paper and provide materials for them to illustrate their entry.

• Make a yew branch—Visit a local Christmas tree stand and ask them if you can gather the branches and remnants of tree trimmings. Ask the tree trimmers to help you cut the branches so that they about 12”-18” each. Discuss Charlotte’s yew branch with your students. Queen Charlotte decorated her yew branch with colored paper, nuts, fruits and candles. Brainstorm other items that can be used to decorate yew branches. If the weather is nice, take a walk outside and let children collect acorns, leaves and other natural elements. Invite them to bring items from home as well. Provide ribbon or string and let children decorate their yew branches with their collected items. My students’ creativity amazed me. Each yew branch reflected the decorator’s personality and creative sensibilities.

The Village of Lights by Mitchell Stevens and Emily Pritchett

“A long time ago, on top of a hill overlooking a village in far-off England there lived a lonely old farmer,” writes author Mitchell Stevens. The farmer’s wife has died and his children have grown and moved away. To ease his loneliness, the old man would watch the lights of the village come on in the evening and then watch them as they were extinguished one by one. When World War II brings aerial bombers to England, the villagers take all of the lights out of their street lights, businesses and homes. The village is blanketed in darkness. As Christmas approaches, the old farmer figures out a way to bring light and hope to the people in the village. A simple yet powerful story, The Village of Lights shows how a single person’s small act can renew the spirit of an entire community.

• Life on the English home front—Briefly discuss life on the home front during World War II. For older students, read the opening few pages or watch the opening scene of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. In The Village of Lights, the farmer hears that England is at war with Germany over the radio. Listen to recordings of Winston Churchill addressing his country over the radio.

• Letters for the lonely—Discuss why the farmer is lonely and looking at the village lights makes him remember his family and their happy holidays together. Ask students why the holiday season can make deepen feelings of loneliness for those who have lost their families. Ask students to think about people in the community who might be lonely. Write their ideas on the board and then let them brainstorm ideas for helping these people feel less alone. Provide time for children to write letters or make cards for the elderly, soldiers serving overseas or other people who might suffer from loneliness during the holiday season.

• FDR and Winston Churchill—Franklin and Winston: A Christmas That Changed the World (Douglas Wood) and In the Dark Streets Shineth: A 1941 Christmas Eve Story (David McCullough) are excellent read-alouds to pair with Village of Lights. Both books tell the story of Churchill’s visit to the White House just days after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. In the Dark Streets Shineth addresses an aspect of the British blackout that brings tears to my eyes each time I read it. Watch this accompanying video to hear the story and song. The video also has excellent photographs of Roosevelt, Churchill and the British blackouts.

• Blackout posters—Discuss blackouts and ask children why it was important for all of the villages in England to be dark at night. Show students examples of the blackout posters from World War II. Invite them to design their own blackout poster.

One Christmas Wish by Katherine Rundell and Emily Sutton

Feeling annoyed at being left at home alone on Christmas Eve, Theo unwraps a cardboard box and discovers four old ornaments: a tin soldier, an angel, a rocking horse and a robin. Looking out the window, he sees a shooting star and wishes, “to be un-alone.” Instantly, the four ornaments come to life. The rocking horse eats everything in sight, the robins longs to sing, the angel desires real feathers and the solider wants to find true love. Theo and the ornaments venture out into the night and have experiences that can only happen on Christmas Eve. Katherine Rundell’s prose is delightfully British (“That might be rather difficult. I don’t know many tin people that I can introduce you to. Are you sure you wouldn’t rather have a furry hat?”), and Emily Sutton’s 1950s retro and atmospheric illustrations add more British goodness. Though it is a new story, One Christmas Wish feels magical and timeless—just the type of story one longs to read during the holiday season. At 60 pages, it’s an ideal holiday class read-aloud.

• Christmas in England—Before reading it aloud, tell your students that One Christmas Wish takes place in England. Ask them to keep their ears and eyes open for phrases, words, traditions and illustration details that are distinctly British. As a class, compile a list of included details like Christmas pudding, fruitcake, baubles, tinsel, old cathedrals and trains. Take some time to read other Christmas books that have distinctly British settings like The Snowman (Raymond Briggs), The Story of Holly and Ivy (Rumer Godden), Alfie’s Christmas (Shirley Hughes) and an adaption of Charles Dickens’ The Christmas Carol.

• Shooting stars—Theo makes his wish on a shooting star. What are shooting stars? Falling stars or meteor showers are other names for shooting stars. Take some time to research them with your students.

• Story of ornaments—After reading One Christmas Wish, invite children to choose a favorite ornament from home (or provide a few in the classroom). Model a creative writing exercise with the class. What if our ornaments came to life? The ornaments in One Christmas Wish have distinct personalities and desires. Remind students to include these elements in their ornament story. This exercise works well in pairs or groups of three. My students enjoyed imagining and writing ornament stories together.

• Compare and contrast—Read aloud a version of The Nutcracker. My favorite versions are illustrated by Susan Jeffers and Lisbeth Zwerger. The traditional Nutcracker story shares many of the magical elements present in One Christmas Wish. As a class, make a Venn diagram comparing the two stories. What are the similarities and differences between the two?

Every year during the long third quarter, my 4th-grade students and I read Lois Lowry’s Number the Stars. This pitch-perfect novel is most students’ first encounter with World War II. Driven by my students’ deep curiosity and interest, I have developed a repertoire of WWII lessons to supplement the novel. The subject matter can be tricky and complicated to teach, and for years, resources for elementary school students were scarce. I was thrilled to see the publication of three strong WWII picture books in the past year which discuss three different aspects of the war, but they all tell stories laced with the courage, faithfulness and reconciliation.

Write to Me: Letters from Japanese American Children to the Librarian They Left Behind by Cynthia Grady and Amiko Hirao

After the bombing of Pearl Harbor in December 1941, young Japanese-Americans were incarcerated with their families in internment camps. In the opening pages of Write to Me, young Katherine Tasaki tells her librarian, Miss Breed, that she is leaving, and Miss Breed gives her an addressed postcard, telling her to write. Thus begins a correspondence between Miss Breed and her young patrons. Told in both a narrative and an epistolary format, the book highlights Miss Breed’s courage and work on behalf of Japanese-Americans and shows the power of literature and story amid darkness. By focusing on the efforts of a single citizen, Write to Me brings a complicated and large issue to a level that is ideal for elementary-age students.

• Establish Background Knowledge—The front and back endpapers have historical photographs showing various aspects of the Japanese-Americans’ internment. Before reading the book, cover the captions and show a few of these pictures to your students. Ask them to tell you what they think is happening in the photographs. If you have not discussed the Pearl Harbor bombing, then briefly read an informational book or article to your students. Emphasize the surprise nature of the attack. Locate Japan and Hawaii on a world map. Ask students to explain why the Pearl Harbor base was an ideal target.

• Opinion Writing—President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 on February 19, 1942. After reading Write to Me, give students an article or let them research the order and the resulting relocation camps. Without too much prior discussion, invite children to think about the order and the relocation camps. Instruct children to respond to the following prompt, “Do you think that President Roosevelt was right when he enforced Executive Order 9066? Why or why not?” Be sure to think about the mindset of the U.S. in early 1942. After students have formed opinions, encourage a few students to share their writing with the class. Or take it a step further and assign a “Dear President Roosevelt” letter-writing assignment where students share their opinion in a formal letter.

• Further Reading—Read other books discussing the relocation of Japanese-Americans like The Bracelet by Yoshiko Uchida and Baseball Saved Us by Ken Mochizuki and Dom Lee. Make a list of the things you learn about the internment camps from the three different books. A few of my students wanted to read more, so I directed them to the novels Dash by Kirby Larson,  Heart of a Champion by Ellen Schwartz and The Journal of Ben Uchida by Barry Denenberg. For a longer, more informational text, be sure to read Dear Miss Breed: True Stories of the Japanese American Incarceration During World War II and a Librarian Who Made a Difference by Joanne Oppenheim.

• Write for Justice—Clara Breed mailed the children postcards, seeds, books, soap and thread. She visited them in the camps, but she was not content with her efforts. So she began to advocate for the rights of the children by writing magazine articles and “letters asking for a library and school for the imprisoned children.” Encourage students to talk to their parents about unjust situations in the U.S. and around the world. When each student has decided upon an issue, show them how to write an article or letter advocating for justice.
 

Thirty Minutes Over Oregon: A Japanese Pilot’s World War II Story by Marc Tyler Nobleman and Melissa Iwai

In September of 1942, to prove that the continental U.S. could indeed be bombed, Japan sent pilot Nobuo Fujita in a small plane to bomb the woods near Brookings, Oregon. Only one of the two bombs exploded, causing a minor forest fire. A later attempt was also unsuccessful. Fast-forward 20 years. Fujita is invited to Brookings’ Memorial Day festival. Burdened by feelings of guilt and shame, Fujita decides to attend the festival, and what unfolds is a story of reconciliation and restoration. Visits between Japan and Brookings lasted until Fujita’s death in 1997. Sharing a little-known story of the war, Thirty Minutes Over Oregon fascinated my students and led to a complex discussion of personal and national loyalties.

• Cultural Knowledge—Fujita strapped his family’s 400-year-old samurai sword to his plane seat when he bombed the Oregon forest. Years later, he gave the sword to the town of Brookings and it is now located in the Brookings Public Library. Learn the cultural importance of the samurai sword by reading a few of the stories in Sword of the Samurai: Adventure Stories from Japan by Eric A. Kimmel and Michael Evans. I also found this article/worksheet from The Asian Art Museum to be very helpful.

• Write Around a Phrase—A WWII veteran responded to protestors who didn’t want Fujita to attend the Memorial Day festival in a newspaper article writing, “He was doing a job and we were doing a job.” Write this phrase on the board or a piece of chart paper. Give students a few minutes to respond to the phrase. Afterward, allow students to share what they wrote about the phrase and lead a class discussion about national responsibility and loyalty. After our discussion, I read Shooting at the Stars by John Hendrix aloud. The story of the WWI Christmas Truce further emphasized the concept that the students had begun to understand and vocalize—that war is made up of individuals who have more similarities than differences with those fighting for the opposing side.

• Vocabulary Art—Learning not just the definition of unfamiliar words but how to apply them in different contexts is an essential skill for all students. With my students, we made a list of “power words” found in Thirty Minutes Over Oregon (examples include catastrophically, pride, veteran, condemning and reconciliation) and then each student selected a word. The assignment was to make an illustrated definition of his/her selected power word. I provided oversized paper, markers, pastels, magazines and other materials to ensure maximum creativity. The only criteria for their illustrated word assignment was that their creation must include a sentence using the selected power word and the artwork must reflect an aspect of their sentence or the word.

• Learn More—Watch two short videos (here and here) about Nobuo Fujita’s life and his reconciliation with the town of Brookings.

Ruby in the Ruins by Shirley Hughes

It’s 1945 in London, and the war has finally come to an end. Young Ruby is thankful her house survived the blitz bombings and is excited for her father’s homecoming. When he finally arrives home from his duty in the war, she is surprised by her feelings of shyness around him. One day Ruby and her friends decide to play on the forbidden piles of rubble that line the London streets. An accident occurs, and Ruby’s dad saves the day. The incident and conversation afterward help ease the emotional distance between the two. Hughes’ straight-forward text and illustrations present the London blitzes and post-war devastation from a child’s point of view, showing how the war affected not just soldiers, but the lives of all English citizens.

• Life in London during WWII—For young Ruby, life during the war meant “nights when the warning sirens wailed and searchlights swept the sky,” terrifying explosions that made her family’s small house shake and trips to the cold and crowded air raid shelter. The BBC People’s War is a collection of several articles (many first-hand accounts) regarding the blitzes and daily life in London during the war. Print various articles and let students read them individually or in pairs. Afterward, write the following words on pieces of chart paper: air-raids, Blitzkrieg, evacuees, siren, rubble, Luftwaffe, Royal Air Force, countryside and air-raid shelter. I wrote two words on each sheet of paper. Let students provide the information they gathered from their articles to flesh out the meanings of the words. My students enjoyed listening to the sound of an actual air-raid siren.

• Nonfiction Text Features—When the students have grasped the concept and big ideas of the London Blitz as well as the mass evacuation, show them these excellent photographs of children evacuees from the Imperial War Museum. Read the captions that accompany the photographs and then discuss the importance of photo captions in nonfiction documents. Teach students that though a caption can be more than one sentence, the first sentence is the most important and must give readers information about the photograph. Give each student a copy of this photograph of young children next to London rubble. Provide the basic details of the photograph and then let them write a caption to accompany the photograph.

Books are stealthy: tucked into engaging adventures we often find lessons in bravery, kindness and perseverance. In the best books, we also find inspiration. Shining light on women endeavoring to create their own futures, Ernestine’s Milky Way and Born to Ride are two promising stories set against the backdrop of American history. These are two cheerful, thoughtful tributes to the many countless women who donned bloomers, kept their heads up when the path was thorny and forged ahead to the future.

In the midst of World War II, in a lush valley of the Great Smoky Mountains, Ernestine—a determined 5-year-old—sets off on a very important errand. With her dad away at war, all the chores fall to Ernestine and her mother. Life back then wasn’t easy or convenient. Their days were full of hard work, but also kindness, imagination and courage. Ernestine will need every one of these if she’s going to deliver milk to her neighbors a long walk away. Wrapped in the magic of adventure, Ernestine’s Milky Way is a lesson in determination.

Ernestine’s story rings with the sounds of life in the Smokies. Author Kerry Madden-Lunsford gracefully employs local dialect in order to give readers a sense of location and time. In addition, Madden-Lunsford makes resourceful use of animal sounds, descriptive language and poetic expressions to place us on the trail with Ernestine.

Illustrator Emily Sutton fills her pages with flora, fauna and lush, subdued color. Ernestine’s path takes her through brambles and berries and barbed-wire fences, which Sutton illustrates with fine detail and unrestricted enthusiasm. Sutton’s eager brush strokes convey a sense of wildness and awe, while chickens, fire-burning stoves, banjos, barrels and wagons plant the story firmly in its time.

Based on the recollections of the author’s friend, the real-life Ernestine, Ernestine’s Milky Way gives readers a snapshot of country life in the 1940s. Today, the idea of a five-year-old being sent on errands alone is foreign and even shocking, but that was the reality for many farm children who shouldered much of the work of this era.

Also shining light on an era of U.S. history, Born to Ride, by Larissa Theule, begins with the “cannots” of a late-19th century girl. But there is one cannot that young Louisa Belinda will not abide. Despite the rules, despite what the adults might think, even despite the threat of getting permanent “bicycle face,” Louisa Belinda is determined to learn to ride a bike. But as Louisa Belinda conquers the bike, a new era is being wheeled into her town, assisted by her mother—who has a few surprises of her own.

Illustrator Kelsey Garrity-Riley creates a small-town Rochester, New York, that is charming and cheerful. Garrity-Riley fills her pages with the trappings of 19th century; milkmen and pinafores, feathered hats and horse-drawn carriages. The suffragettes are calmly at work, making signs and planning a rally. Small details—rally buttons, a poster for Susan B. Anthony’s speech—lend historical authenticity. In this exciting environment, a young girl is bravely forging her own future.

Theule narrates in a youthful, conversational tone that invites discussion and questions. And young readers may have many: the idea of scandalous bloomers, no vote for women and the threat of bicycle face seems unbelievable and downright ridiculous to today’s girls. While Louisa Belinda’s own bike riding is met with little resistance, three concluding pages of historic photos and facts about “wheelwomen” and the suffragette movement help open the door to the genuine gritty struggles women faced. 

ALSO IN BOOKPAGE: Read Larissa Theule’s fascinating essay on wheelwomen and bicycle face here.

It’s been there for five years, on the corner of my circulation desk computer: a post-it note with Kate DiCamillo’s wise words, “Stories are light. Light is precious in a world so dark. Begin at the beginning. Tell a story. Make some light.” For this librarian, these sentences are equal parts frightening and invigorating. They remind me that it’s my responsibility to love my students by delivering light through the sharing of stories, which is a truth that humbles me daily. The following three books tell the stories of dedicated librarians and the ways in which they change individual lives and entire communities through the power of reading.

Planting Stories: The Life of Librarian and Storyteller Pura Belpré by Anika Aldamuy Denise and Paola Escobar

In 1921, Pura Belpré leaves her home in Puerto Rico and travels to New York City for her sister’s wedding. Intrigued by the hustle of the city, she decides to stay and accepts a job as a bilingual assistant at a neighborhood library branch. It’s not long before Belpré sees a need in the diverse community and begins to act. She starts bilingual storytime events complete with puppets derived from Puerto Rican folklore and then proceeds to turn these shows into the first mainstream American-Latinx storybooks. Traveling “from branch to branch, classroom to classroom, to churches and community centers,” Belpré’s dedication, energy, storytelling and love for the Spanish-speaking community transform the New York libraries, making them a joyful haven for children and families. My students—who were already familiar with the Pura Belpré Award—loved learning about its eponym.

• Read Global Folktales and Stories—When she begins working at the NYPL, Belpré is disappointed to discover that, “Not one folktale from Puerto Rico is on the shelves.” Ask students to interview a family member to find out which countries and cultures that are part of their family heritage. Then let students research folktales from their family’s origin country. The International Children’s Book Database has over 4,000 books from 59 countries available to read online. If possible, borrow books published in other countries from the public library and let children spend time reading or looking at them.

• Folktale Writing—After a week or so of reading folktales from around the world, let students emulate Belpré by writing their own folktales. Discuss the components of a folktale and provide a rubric with clear expectations for the final product. Belpré’s folktales have animal characters and settings that reflect her Puerto Rican heritage. Encourage children to create character and settings reflecting their chosen country or culture. A few of my students used folktale books published in a different language and wrote own story to go along with the illustrations. After their folktales are complete, give children time to illustrate them.

• Plan and Perform a Puppet Show—Belpré learns to make puppets and soon her stories are dancing across the stage. Give students the opportunity to turn familiar stories into puppet shows. Model the process of turning a narrative into a drama and then provide your class with fairy/folk tale collections or familiar picture books that have a simple plot and limited characters. Divide children into pairs or small groups. Offer guidance as they work together to turn story into a short script. After they have completed writing the drama let students create puppets out of various materials (encourage them to bring materials from home). After the puppets and practice are complete, throw a class puppet show party allowing time for the groups to perform for their classmates.

Library on Wheels: Mary Lemist Titcomb and America’s First Bookmobile by Sharlee Glenn

Mary Lemist Titcomb grew up poor in rural New Hampshire. Through hard work and determination, she completed seminary school and then fell into her life’s calling after she read a newspaper article about librarianship. When she became head of a large library system in Maryland, she remembered her childhood and decided to act. The library was for everyone—not just the wealthy families who lived in town. Ignoring obstacles (there were many), she worked tirelessly in her mission to bring the library to all people. Her rural book deposits were successful, but in 1905, she had her most revolutionary idea—a horse-drawn “book wagon.” Thus, the very first library bookmobile. Filled with photographs, postcards, old book covers, archival letters and other ephemera, Library on Wheels has the feel of an old-fashioned scrapbook and is excellent for older students.

• Curate a School Bookmobile or Little Library—Discuss how room on a bookmobile is limited and how the bookmobile librarian must choose books carefully. Help your students make a list of the things that must be considered with deciding which titles to put on the bookmobile (age, education level, interests). Give students this challenge: “You are the school bookmobile librarian. It is your job to choose 50 titles (3 copies of each title, for a total of 150 books) that will be purchased for the bookmobile. Which books are you going to buy and why? Be sure to consider the needs of the entire school when you are choosing your titles.” My students loved this simple project and became very invested in researching and selecting their titles.

• A World of Libraries Project—Titcomb worked tirelessly to ensure that everyone in her county had access to books. Read aloud more picture books (here’s a list of my 10 favorites) about individuals who created innovative ways to make books available for everyone. Compare and contrast these stories with Titcomb’s story or let students choose one of the books and complete the printable A World of Reading response organizer.

• Create a Class Book—Provide students with a piece of blank letter paper. Invite students to create/sketch/plan an artistic representation of the library/bookmobile they researched or to design one that meets another need. Provide many different types of mediums (pastels, collage paper, watercolor, colored pencils, etc.) and encourage children to push their creative boundaries. After they are satisfied with their creation or design, give them cardstock for their final creation. Require older students to write a paragraph about their creation and its origin. Bind the students’ art together to create a class book.

Dreamers by Yuyi Morales

When author and illustrator Yuyi Morales and her infant son migrate to the United States “thirsty, in awe,” they are met with “words unlike those of our ancestors.” Unable to read signs or understand the English language, they are afraid to speak and make “lots of mistakes” as they navigate the challenges that accompany life in a new country and culture. And then they find the local library. At first “suspicious” and “improbable,” they soon discover that it holds the most unimaginable treasure. The library becomes their second home, “a place we didn’t need to speak, we only needed to trust,” as librarians and fellow patrons give them the tools they need to speak, write and make their voices heard. Dreamers is a book with words and illustrations so rich that it demands to be savored, shared and then read again and again.

• “Books that Inspired Me” List/Timeline—My students loved identifying the familiar picture books that Morales includes in her illustrations. In the back of the book, she includes a list of “Books That Inspired Me (and Still Do).” Prior to the lesson, gather the books that have influenced your life. Hold each one up and explain why and how it influenced/es your life. Challenge students to make a similar list. Give them a few days to think about their books. My students and I created life timelines, drawing and labeling our books at the specific points when they first influenced us.

• Guest Speaker—If you have students who were born in other countries in your class, privately ask them if they (or their parents) are interested in sharing the challenges and victories they experienced upon first arriving in the U.S. Reach out to the school and local community as well. Before the guest(s) visits your classroom, guide students in creating a list of questions and teach them formal interview etiquette.

• Personal Art Challenge—In the back matter, Morales lists the variety of items (a brick from her home, her childhood drawings, an old woven blouse) that she scanned or photographed and then incorporated into her illustrations. After sharing this list with your students, reread the book and look for the ways Morales incorporates the items into her illustrations. Ask students to think about items or surfaces that are a part of their life story. Invite them to bring them to school for sharing. If possible, collaborate with your school’s technology teacher and let students photograph or scan the items and then incorporate them into a piece of personal art.

• Public Library Extra Credit—The majority of public libraries offer resources for immigrants who are learning how to navigate the U.S. Encourage students to visit their local branch and to inquire about what resources are offered. Offer extra credit for students who follow through and can share the services offered. Opportunities to initiate conversations with adults in the community helps nurture students’ communication skills.